Advertisement
Published: February 16th 2018
Edit Blog Post
DSCN5954
Check out these gas prices This morning was a little different as this is the day we move from our hotel in Bethlehem to our hotel in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. We not only had to get ready but pack our suitcases and put them outside our door before we went to breakfast. We are very fortunate that at each hotel we have young men who carry our luggage from our rooms to the bus and vice versa. All we have to do is double check and make sure our luggage is ready to be put on the bus.
Our bus ride today took a little time as we were going to Caesarera Maritima on the Mediterranean. It is beautiful there with the ancient ruins on a backdrop of the blue seas of the Mediterranean. This site is important to Christianity for several reasons. It is where the apostle Peter baptized the first recorded Gentile convert, Cornelius. It was here that Peter was also judged by Festus and Felix. Paul was imprisoned there. Pontius Pilate lived there. Also, Herod spent much of his time there as it was a much more exciting place to be than Jerusalem. The theater there was built by
Herod but is still in use today. And if you walk along the seashore you might pick up pieces of ancient Roman glass or shards of ancient pottery. Also nearby are the remains of the Roman aqueduct that ran fresh water from Mt. Carmel to Caesarera.
Our next stop was Mt. Carmel where you have unbelievable views all over Israel, however today was hazing and not very good for those kinds of views. Mt. Carmel s where Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to burn the offering on the altar. Of course even after pouring water on his offering three times the "fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice" and the people "fell prostrate and cried, 'The Lord - he is God! The Lord - he is God!'" 1 KIngs 18:38-39
Next up was Megiddo or Tel Megiddo. Tel Megiddo isn't really a mountain but a Tell (a hill created by many generations of people living and rebuilding on the same spot - much like Jericho and Jeruslaem). Megiddo is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies for a battle during the end times - Armageddon. It is an active archaeological site with ancient
remains one of which is an amazing tunnel through solid rock to the water supply. King Ahab completed the tunnel which is about 230 feet. We walked down 182 steps to reach the bottom but only 78 steps to get to the rear opening where our bus was waiting for us.
Nearby was the city of Nazareth. It has a population of about 120,000 and 50% are Christian making it the largest Christian population in Israel. Christian there enjoy many more freedoms than those living in Bethlehem. Mount Precipice is the traditional site where the angry mob tried to throw Jesus off according to Luke 4:16-30. It was then he decided he need to move on to a different area to preach and teach as "no prophet is accepted in his hometown." Luke 4:24 From Mount Precipice there are beautiful views of the Jezereel Valley and the town of Nazareth.
A quick stop at Cana completed our tour for the day. Cana was where Jesus performed his first miracle of turning water into wine. John 2:1-11 We walked through the church at the site and actually got to see the foundation of the ancient church remains there. We
also got to see a 2,000 year old water jar that is similar to the one that held the water Jesus turned into wine. I couldn't believe how big it was. I've always thought it was a small jug like we would use to serve water at home!
By the way, we complain about our gas prices. Her the gas is anywhere from $7.50 - $9.00 per gallon and cars cost twice as much! We;d better start being grateful for what an abundance we have!
We are now in our hotel in Tiberias awaiting for what tomorrow has in store for us.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.393s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 59; dbt: 0.0976s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.2mb